Purpose-Bred Dairy-beef
LIC is bringing years of dairy genetics expertise into the dairy-beef arena with two purpose-bred programmes – KiwiPrime and Synergizer – designed to work for both the dairy farmer and the rearer/finisher. Words Sarah Perriam-Lampp.
For decades, dairy farmers have gone to the wider beef industry to find suitable sires to use over their dairy cows for their non-replacement calves. Now LIC has applied its crossbreeding and data-driven approach – proven through KiwiCross – to create dairy-beef animals bred specifically for both the dairy farmer and beef finisher requirements.
The trademarked Synergizer is a cross between Charolais and Stabiliser (a stabilised crossbred used widely in the United States, Australia, United Kingdom and South America), developed in collaboration with Pāmu and Focus Genetics.
The goal is to combine the Charolais’ carcase quality, growth and marking with the Stabiliser calving ease and solid carcase traits.
“The Synergizer breed has been backed by large-scale commercial data from our progeny test farms to refine the breeding programme,” says Izzy Willison, Head of Genetics at LIC.
That real-world performance information allows LIC to refine Synergizer so it reliably delivers efficient growth and strong carcasses for finishers, while remaining workable for dairy farmers.
Izzy says the Synergizer is particularly well suited to larger-framed dairy cows such as Holstein Friesian and bigger KiwiCross sired types. LIC’s other dairy-beef offering is the trademarked KiwiPrime, based on an Angus x Hereford.
“It has been an eight-year journey to stabilise the right genotypes.”
Izzy says the KiwiPrime sired calves will be polled with a white face, making them easily identifiable and highly marketable. The breeding programme has been established with short gestation length sires from both Angus and Hereford, but without compromising on growth and carcase attributes for both breeds.
KiwiPrime bulls (or sires) will be well suited to smaller-framed dairy cows and heifers, complementing Synergizer in the overall dairy-beef offering.
“We’re not just breeding for the dairy farmer. These breeds have been purpose-built to be valuable along the whole beef chain, not just at the dairy end.”
Synergizer bulls are being put through feed conversion efficiency and methane testing, meaning the next generation of sires are selected not only for growth and carcase, but also for how efficiently they convert grass into meat.
Semen from both programmes will be released commercially in 2026, with KiwiPrime and Synergizer calves to be born in Spring 2027.
For more information visit lic.co.nz
